Miss Kay
Meet Miss Kay, a single mom of two teen girls, who is a small business owner in Negril, Jamaica. I met Miss Kay in September, 2016, when I attended and spoke at a Women's Fellowship Conference at Word To Life Church International, in Negril, Jamaica. Miss Kay attends this church, with her daughters, and was present at part of this conference. After the conference, Miss Kay came up and introduced herself to me, bubbly and cheerful, and thanked me for coming to Jamaica to share with the ladies, and for blessing them all with blessing bags (make-up bags filled with goodies for women). Her smile is contagious!
The next day, my husband and I were driving down the West End, to go to dinner to celebrate his birthday. We passed an abandoned hotel, and I suggested that we stop and take a look - I like a good adventure. We parked down the road, as there was no parking right there by this hotel, which is right on the main, narrow road, on the West End, then we walked down to check this hotel out. We were greeted by the caretaker, Charlie, who has lived there and cared for the property for 30 years. We talked to him for a while, he let us look around, I bought some handmade jewelry from him, then we decided that we needed to get to our dinner. We were walking away, and Charlie asked us if we would like to walk across the street, to check out his sister's shop. I politely said maybe we could visit it another time, and began to walk away. Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name!? That was weird because I didn't know many people in Negril! I look over, and it's Miss Kay, who just happens to be Charlie's sister, the one he wanted me to visit. Miss Kay ran over, and gave me a big hug! We then took the time to visit her shop.
Miss Kay owns her own shop, which consists of a made-to-order restaurant, a sewing shop, where she makes handmade bags/purses and lingerie, and sells souvenir items, such as handmade jewelry, artwork, and thatch mats and baskets
My husband and I visited Miss Kay several times while I was in Jamaica for two weeks that September. We had many great conversations, sharing about our faith, and about our hopes and dreams.
Miss Kay's dream is to sell her handbags iinternationally. Things have been tough for her, as her shop as received very little business in recent months. Negril has high tourist seasons, and low tourist seasons. Sometimes she is busier than other times, but she always has her family to provide for. I wanted to do something to help her, but I am just a traveling missionary who is financing her own outreach. What can I do?
I came up with an idea! Number one, with Kay's permission, I took some pictures of her shop, of the souvenir items she sales, and her handmade bags. I posted pictures of the bags on my Facebook page, asking if any of my friends would be interested in purchasing one. In a matter of one day, I sold 10 bags for Kay! I took them back to the States with me, delivered them, receiving a few extra donations for her, and was able to bless her with some much-needed finances.
I also discussed with Kay the need to advertise her business. Her business is on the West End, which is not necessarily the busiest area, as far as tourists, and her building sits back off the road, so it could easily to overlooked. She agreed to let me help her, by creating a business Facebook page, and a website. We have been working on it, little by little, and trying to come up with free and creative ways to spread the word about her business, and about her designs. Miss Kay is very ambitious, a big dreamer, and I believe that with the right doors opening, she could see those dreams come to fruition.
For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/KAGandK/
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